Wine Not?

Picture this, you’re finally sitting down with a glass after a long day. Just unwinding. Maybe you’ve got some music playing. Maybe you’ve got a book in front of you. The last thing on your mind is the process your wine has gone through to become what it is today. The very last thing on your mind is where the money from the sale of the wine you bought is going to. The very very last thing on your mind is how your purchase is affecting the community around you.

And fair enough.

We all need down-time. Especially in the fast-paced lifestyle of the modern age. But what if even our hobbies, the things we do to relax and de-stress, could have a positive impact on the people around us?

The great part is that this is something more and more of us are starting to think about. The really great part is that we are also starting to make an effort to ensure that the effects of our actions are indeed positive. We are seeing more and more products, companies, and groups appear that can help us achieve this.

Take that glass of wine for example.

You would not expect it to have had a profound effect on someone’s life. But in 2015, Andre Eikmeier from Vinomofo made that a possibility.

It all started when he saw a friend post about his shiraz grape crop. Jock Harvey, not wanting the remains of his crop to go to waste, offered them to anyone willing to make a donation to a particular charity. After seeing this, Andre had a better idea. He suggested that they go through with the wine making process and sell the wine as per usual, THEN donate the revenue to the charity in question: the Hutt St Centre.

To make a long(ish) story short, the group managed to raise over $100,000 for Hutt St, a charity supporting Adelaide’s homeless. The most incredible part is that, thanks to volunteers and donated equipment, all the revenue made from the wine were able to be donated!

Since then, these guys have gone nationwide. They are still making use of leftover grape crops and volunteers to ensure that 100% of the revenue can go to local charities. Not only that, but they hope to go global in the near future.

Recently, one of our team members here at Ordinary Heroes, Tim Lambert, took part in one of these efforts. He initially heard about the project through Vinomofo itself after winning a year’s supply of wine from the company … Not bad!

Since the project’s focus of alleviating homelessness and poverty is close to his heart, he and his wife decided to volunteer. After making it to the TarraWarra Estate, they were first welcomed by the CEO and co-founder of Vinomofo, Justin Dry. He briefed them on how to not lose fingers to shears and put them straight to work! He maintains that his group picked the crop in record time! Only an hour to clear 300 metres worth of chardonnay vines.

The revenue from the project that Tim participated in will be donated to St Mary’s House of Welcome, to support Melbourne’s homeless population. Although the wine itself won’t be ready for distribution till 2020, it is available for pre-order, along with the products from previous picks. All of these are available from the Vinomofo website.

The Homeless Grapes project, and even the folks down at Vinomofo, are a really amazing example of the kinds of groups that work to make a positive impact on the people around them. Not to mention, they provide a great way to get involved and support the kinds of projects that play into our own interests and help our community as a whole!

And the very best part? We can do all that just by relaxing and having a glass of wine.